By uncovering a previously unknown role for glial signaling induced by vascular damage as a key cause of neural pathology and cognitive decline, Dr. Kaufer identified a target - a single biological mechanism that presents a druggable target and biomarker that is itself a causal mechanism. This presents a personalized, biologically-driven approach to solving neurodegenerative disorders. For those identified at risk, guided treatment can be provided along with targeting, by small molecule drugs, to prevent ongoing decline.

Daniela was born and raised in Israel, and did her B.Sc and Ph.D. in the Technion and the Hebrew University. She moved to the United States for a post-doc at Stanford and in 2005 took a faculty position at U.C. Berkeley.

2015 Archer Award Recipient

The 2015 recipient of the $300,000 three-year Archer Award is Dr. Xinnan Wang for her research project, Miro, an Early Molecular Measurement for Parkinson's Disease. Dr. Wang’s research aims to understand the regulatory mechanisms controlling mitochondrial transport and function and the mechanisms by which misregulation of these processes may contribute to neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease (PD).

In a Parkinson's affected nerve cell, the mitochondria, or power sources, are damaged. In healthy individuals, the damaged mitochondria are removed (mitophagy) to maintain a healthy pool of mitochondria. Miro is an outer mitochondrial membrane protein anchoring the microtubule motors to mitochondria and controls mitochondrial motility. Dr. Wang's research revealed a common impairment in degrading Miro and initiating mitophagy in skin fibroblasts of PD patients. Dr. Wang plans to obtain a larger number of fibroblast lines and detect Miro protein turnover in order to quantitatively conclude the association of Miro with PD. This award aims to further advance her research to validate how Miro protein turnover can serve as a diagnostic measurement for Parkinson's patients with a wider range of genetic backgrounds. This approach holds promise to transform the field of PD clinical care, providing a painless way to distinguish people at risk.

Xinnan Wang, MD, PhD, earned a MD/MSc from the China Medical University in 2003; earned a PhD in genetics from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in 2007; and completed post-doctoral work in neurobiology at Harvard Medical School in 2011. Dr. Wang has been assistant professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine since 2012.